Mandela responding to treatment

PRETORIA, South Africa, March 29 (UPI) -- Former South African President Nelson Mandela, 94, was "responding positively' to treatment of a lung infection, a government official said.

Mandela was hospitalized Wednesday.

A spokesman for President Jacob Zuma said no official update on Mandela's condition was available but he was "responding positively" to treatment.

Zuma told the BBC Mandela, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, was doing "very well" and said people "must not panic."

U.S. President Barack Obama said he was "deeply concerned with Nelson Mandela's health."

Mandela was South Africa's first black president -- from 1994 to 1999 -- and is considered by many as the father in the struggle against apartheid in the country.